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Showing posts from July, 2007

[Interview] Jenny Alexander

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Jenny Alexander has written over a hundred books for children, among them, Finding Fizz (A & C Black, 2006); Tom, Sid, the Goth and the Ghost (Longman, 2004); and Stranded! (Longman, 2003). Her non-fiction books include When Your Child is Bullied (Pocket Books, 2006); Bullies, Bigmouths and So-called Friends (Hodder Children's Books, 2003) as well as The 7-day Stress-buster ; The 7-day Brain-booster ; The 7-day Bully-buster and The 7-day Self-esteem Super-booster (Hodder Children's Books, 2007) which seek to empower children and their families in dealing with issues concerning bullying, self-esteem and self-confidence. She is also the author of How 2 B Happy (A & C Black, 2006); How to Be a Brilliant Writer (A & C Black, 2005) and Going Up! The No-worries Guide to Secondary School (A & C Black, 2004). In a recent interview, Jenny Alexander spoke about her writing. What prompted you to write your first book? I decided I was going to be a poe

[Interview] Sammie Ward

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Sammie Ward is an author and a publisher. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and e-zines that include Black Romance , Jive and True Confessions as well as Timbooktu and Nubian Chronicles . In September 2004, she formed Lady Leo Publishing and subsequently published In The Name of Love ; L ove To Behold ; Seven Days , and It’s In The Rhythm . In June 2005, her debut novel, In The Name of Love was voted “Best New Drama & Fiction of the Year” by the Disilgold Literary National Association (DLNA) and in 2006, she earned a YOUnity Guild Award for New Romance Author of the Year. What motivated you to start writing? I consider myself a romantic person. Who doesn't want romance in their life or enjoy a good romantic novel or movie? It's a wonderful genre to write about. I love it. I grew up reading. I must have read every Silhouette/Harlequin romance novel I could get my hands on. I loved those books. I always thought I could also write one such book,

[Interview] Sandi Kahn Shelton

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Sandi Kahn Shelton is a journalist and the author. Her books include the novels, A Piece of Normal and What Comes After Crazy as well as the non-fiction humorous books about parenting, You Might As Well Laugh: Because Crying Will Only Smear Your Mascara ; Sleeping through the Night and Other Lies and Preschool Confidential . In addition to these books, Shelton has written an award-winning humor column for the New Haven Register newspaper in Connecticut, and for ten years was the “Wit’s End” columnist for Working Mother magazine. Her work has also appeared in magazines, that include Redbook , Ladies Home Journal , Salon , and Reader's Digest . She is currently working on a third novel. In a recent interview, Sandi Kahn Shelton spoke about her writing. How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing? Women’s fiction, I guess, is the closest way to describe it. My stories tend to be about relationships and the perils and power of domestic life.

[Interview] Valerie Tagwira

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Valerie Tagwira is a Zimbabwean medical doctor, an author and a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Her debut novel, The Uncertainty of Hope is set in the densely populated suburb of Mbare, Harare, and explores the complex lives of Onai Moyo -- a market woman and mother of three children -- and her best friend, Katy Nguni -- a vendor and black-market currency dealer. The novel gives an insight into the challenges faced by a wide cross section of Zimbabwe, where life expectancy has dropped to 37, possibly the lowest in the world. In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina , the government's controversial urban slum clearance program, created over half a million internally displaced persons and destroyed the livelihoods of close to 10 percent of the population. Eighty percent of the country's population is unemployed. In this interview, Valerie Tagwira talks about the concerns that influenced her novel: What would you say The Uncertainty of Hope is ab

[Interview_2] Tabitha Suzuma

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Tabitha Suzuma 's first novel, A Note of Madness tells the story of a teenage musical genius struggling with manic depression. The novel has received a lot of critical attention from newspapers, magazines and websites that include The Guardian , Hackwriters.com , Cherwell , Medical Humanities , CMIS and Write Away . A Note of Madness , which is now available in both hardcover and paperback , was also shortlisted in the 2006 NASEN & TES Special Educational Needs Book Award . Suzuma spoke about what she has been working on since making her debut as an author, in May last year: How would you say you have you been received so far? A Note of Madness came out in paperback this February and I am hoping it will sell well because its sequel, A Song for Jennah , will only be published next year if sales figures are high. And as soon as I get the green light from Random House -- with luck by August -- I will start work on the third book in the A Note of Madness trilogy. It w

[Interview] H. Nigel Thomas

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Canadian author H. Nigel Thomas was a teacher in St. Vincent, his home island, before moving to Montreal where he taught English and French in high school and elementary school. For the past 18 years, he has been working as professor of U.S. Literature at Université Laval in Quebec City. His books include Why We Write: Conversations with African Canadian Poets & Novelists (TSAR Publications, 2006) which features interviews with 15 African Canadian writers and From Folklore to Fiction: Folk Heroes and Rituals in the Black American Novel which appeared in Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies, Number 118 (Greenwood Press, 1988). He has written three novels: Return to Arcadia (forthcoming, TSAR Publications, Fall 2007); Behind the Face of Winter ( TSAR Publications, 2001) and Spirits in the Dark (House of Anansi Press, 1993 and Heinemann Caribbean Writers Series, 1994) which was a finalist for the 1994 QSPELL/Hugh MacClennan Fiction Award. In addition to th

[Interview] M. D. Benoit

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Canadian author, M.D. Benoit is on a virtual book tour to promote her upcoming alternate reality novel, Synergy . The tour started on March 28 and will run until April 11. During this period, ten blogs will host M.D. Benoit for a day to discuss Synergy , its themes and characters. Some blogs will also feature interviews with the author and reviews of the book. On her own blog, Life’s Weirder than Fiction , M.D. Benoit will announce where she will be that day, as well as talk a bit about her host. Synergy ’s Virtual Book Tour will culminate with a Virtual Book Launch , on April 14 and 15. In an email interview which took place between February 21 and March 30, 2007, M.D. Benoit spoke about the tour and about her writing. How many books have you written so far? I’m currently working on my seventh, but I have two books currently published and one which will come out in March 2007. All three are published by Zumaya Publications . The first one, Metered Space , was published

[Interview] Stanley Ruzvidzo Mupfudza

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Stanley Ruzvidzo Mupfudza is one of the most exciting emerging voices in Zimbabwean literature. His short stories have appeared in anthologies such as A Roof to Repair (College Press, 2000), Writing Still (Weaver Press, 2003), Writing Now (Weaver Press, 2005) and Creatures Great and Small (Mambo Press, 2006). A number of his short stories have also been published in national newspapers and magazines that include The Sunday Mail, the Sunday Mirror and Moto. In a recent interview, Stanley Mupfudza spoke about his writing. Do you think newspapers and magazines in Zimbabwe are giving enough space to creative writers? The Sunday Mail no longer has space for creative writing. The Sunday Mirror had it because of my own initiative. Many magazines have become defunct in Zimbabwe, so it is no longer a question of magazines giving space to creative writers, but that creative writers no longer have media through which to express themselves. How would you describe the current situat